Search the scriptures

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CyrilSebastian

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In The Gospel According to John, Chapter 5 Verse 39 states:

You search the scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf.
Why would the people think that they have eternal life through the scriptures?
 
CyrilSebastian said:
In The Gospel According to John, Chapter 5 Verse 39 states:

You search the scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf.
Code: 
  Why would the people think that they have eternal life through the scriptures?
Click to expand...
Because the scriptures instructed them how to follow the law of Moses which is how they are saved.
 
CyrilSebastian said:
In The Gospel According to John, Chapter 5 Verse 39 states:

You search the scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf.
Code: 
  Why would the people think that they have eternal life through the scriptures?
Click to expand...
To me, the verse underscores the fact that we sometimes mistake the concept/idea for the thing itself. As if, in the OT, the artists (prophets) did such a good job of painting a picture of the Messiah - that they swear the image is real and the Person who arrived is false.

Knowledge of Scripture/rituals/shadows vs experience of Scripture.

biblehub.com/commentaries/john/5-39.htm
 
According to the Ignatius Catholic study bible commentary, John 5:30-47: the Jewish legal tradition required two to three witnesses to sustain a claim in court ( Duet 19:15). Jesus has a list of witnesses beyond the required number: 1. John the Baptist(5:33) 2. His miracles (5:36) 3. the father(5:37) 4. the scriptures(5:39) 5. And Moses (5:46) all bear witness to his divine authority and mission.

We can’t just look at the single verse we need to keep the context, hope this helps.
 
I also think that we have examples of this in our modern world.

A couple of things come to mind:

One would be the Bible Code, where ‘messages’ are supposedly hidden within the scriptures. People have searched the scriptures, and even used computers to mathematically find ‘mysteries’ within the Bible which could answer many questions regarding prophecy, etc.

Another example would be the Kabbalah from one sect of Judaism, which asserts that there is a magical power within the Hebrew letters, and that we can use these letters to obtain the things we want in this life. This belief also asserts that there is power in the Old Testament, and we can understand the Hebrew letters used in the Old Testament and use them to our benefit. This was very popular even in Hollywood, and many stars were having Hebrew letters tattooed on themselves thinking the letters had power.

But the scriptures were not meant for these things. They were meant to show Jesus, who alone is our salvation.
 
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